Mitsubishi Australia's new president and chief executive, Mutsuhiro Oshikiri, feels that the current product range offered by the Japanese brand is old and the prices are too high. In addition, he hinted that Mitsubishi did not meet the customer’s expectation on several occasions.

"In most cases, we have a similar complaint [about a particular car] and we feel shame, because if everybody says different [problems with the car] it's OK, but if everybody says the same thing, we are idiots – we didn't do the proper thing," Mr Oshikiri said.

Perhaps, his most critical comment is as follows, "I don't know why people buy a Mitsubishi. That is a simple question, difficult answer that I have to think about for the next three or four months. What is the benefit? Why do we have to be here? What is the future? I have to find out."

Some may praise Oshikiri for his frank remarks and I am not sure if these remarks will sit well with his bosses in Japan. Perhaps, Oshikiri had a Sake or two before the comments are made.

Over the past two to three years, Mitsubishi has been increasing the equipment level of its models in Australia but sales are down by more than 5% year-to-date as compared to 2011 despite the overall market increasing by almost 10%.

Mitsubishi Australia will be introducing the new Outlander and the Mirage subcompact (above) shortly. Mr Oshikiri could be secretly hoping that these new models will help to turn the sales around. He added that he is eager to get a better grasp of what needs to change in order for more buyers to consider the brand when shopping for a new car.

I have been a car fanatic since 1989, when my father was changing our family car then to a Toyota Corolla 1.6 GL fitted with a Twin Cam 16 valve engine that was carburetor-fed, a big deal back in those days. The automobile technology and industry fascinates me and I hope to broadcast these interesting developments to everyone out there through this blog.